9/23/2019 – Humpy won the Skolkovo leg of FIDE's 2019 Women's Grand Prix by making a draw in the final round against reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun. The Indian ace won her first major championship since returning to competitive chess in the Batumi Olympiad of 2018. Humpy finished at 8.0/11, gained 160 Grand Prix points and received EUR €15,000 for winning the tournament. Humpy, who is currently world number 3 among women by rating, behind Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun, has just about every accomplishment in her bag except the World Championship title. | Photo: David Llada / FIDE

9/23/2019 – The highlight of the round four play-offs at the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk was Jeffery Xiong's victory over Jan-Krzysztof Duda, in a match-up that was only decided in the blitz phase after the players repeatedly exchanged blows in riveting encounters. Ding Liren, Alexander Grischuk, Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov also advanced to the quarter-finals. The eight survivors need two more match wins to get a spot in the next Candidates Tournament. | Photo: FIDE

9/22/2019 – Jon surveys the World Cup agony and ecstasy and asks for your help setting the future direction of the column with a 60-second questionnaire for which you can win an autographed DVD. | Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

9/22/2019 – It was an action-packed day in Khanty-Mansiysk, as Leinier Dominguez and Jeffery Xiong bounced back from losses; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nikita Vitiugov drew to get 1½:½ victories in their matches; and Yu Yangyi managed to win after having drawn game one, thus reaching the quarter-finals. Also noteworthy was Ding Liren's stubborn defence against Kirill Alekseenko — the top seed drew the underdog, which means the match will be decided on tiebreaks. IM LAWRENCE TRENT recapped the action of the day. | Photo: FIDE

9/21/2019 – Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun faced her World Championship rival Aleksandra Goryachkina today in Skolkovo at the FIDE Women's Grand Prix. A long battle ended in a draw, leaving Humpy Koneru alone at the top of the standings heading into Sunday's final round. But Ju has her fate in her hands as she's Humpy's opponent in what could be a thrilling finale. | Photo: David Llada / FIDE

9/21/2019 – Half the match-ups had a winner in game one of the round of 16 at the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. Coincidentally, all three Americans still in the race need a win on Saturday to force tiebreaks, as Nikita Vitiugov, Alexander Grischuk and Jan-Krzysztof Duda beat Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez and Jeffery Xiong respectively. In the other decisive encounter of the day, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated Peter Svidler. Video review by IM LAWRENCE TRENT | Photo: FIDE

9/17/2019 – This wild endgame features a pawn race full of twists and turns that is as fun to watch as it is to win (or draw if you're playing White)!

9/17/2019 – The round of 32 of the FIDE World Cup began on Monday, with seven players getting the lead in their mini-matches. The three biggest underdogs — all with ratings in the 2500s — are amongst those needing a win to bounce back after a loss, as Alexander Grischuk, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Teimour Radjabov defeated Xu Xiangyu, Eltaj Safarli and Daniil Yuffa respectively. IM LAWRENCE TRENT recapped the action of the day. | Photo: FIDE

9/16/2019 – The Berkeley Chess School, in Berkeley, California, hosted an unusual (by USA standards) International Master Norm Tournament (August 16th-20th). Unusual because it was for women only. GM Irina Krush won the tournament after a playoff with IM-elect Annie Wang. WIM AGNIESZKA MATRAS-CLEMENT was among the contenders and sent us this first-hand review. | Photos: Berkley Chess School

9/16/2019 – GM Simon Williams selects key moments from the World Cup so far, plus a few more puzzles on the theme of under-promotion. Watch for free (for a limited time) starting at the usual hour: 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EDT).

9/16/2019 – The pairings for round three of the FIDE World Cup are set, as the last fifteen (out of thirty-two) spots were decided on Sunday's tiebreaks. The rapid and blitz play-offs saw the first Armageddon battle of the event: the score in Anish Giri vs Evgeniy Najer remained tied after eight games — Giri got the black pieces and won the sudden-death encounter to get his pass to the next round. The other lengthy match-up of round two saw Daniil Yuffa knocking out Luke McShane. Round-up show by GM ERWIN L'AMI. | Photo: FIDE

9/15/2019 – Hans Ree was the fourth chess player born in the Netherlands to receive the Grandmaster title from FIDE after Max Euwe, Jan Hein Donner and Jan Timman. Following his active years as a player, he became one of the most important chess journalists. Today Ree celebrates his 75th birthday. | Photo: Dutch National Archive